Please stand as we recite The Shema together.
The Shema
Hear O Israel!
The Lord is our God – the Lord Alone.
Love the Lord your God
With all your heart,
With all your soul,
And with all your might,
And love your neighbor as yourself. Amen.
Thank You Lord, you may be seated.

1 Sam 25:32, Then David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me…
	We continue this morning with our deliberation on the fact that we are created by God with the longing and with the necessary heart unto Him which desires to bring forth His blessing in the course of our walk on this earth. Even those who are not Christians seek to bring forth blessing on the idols and the deities of their imaginations. God created us with the integral need to try to bless someone or something that is greater than us. 
	In reality, that need is only fully put into its intended functionality after we are saved by God, Himself. It is when we see Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God in His glory as both Savior and Lord, surrounded by the majesty of Our Heavenly Father, and ministered unto by the vibrant working Omnipotence of The Holy Spirit, that we can even begin to operate unto this course of so honoring and worshiping The Triune God-head. This is the blessing of Him as The Creator of all that has ever been and ever will be! He, Alone, deserves all the praise and adoration that can proceed from the depths of the heart of humanity.
	We continue with that blessing as expressed by the Psalmist in several more passages which put forth the majesty and the praise of God. The first will be Ps 41:12+13.
	Ps 41:12+13, As for me, Thou dost uphold me in my integrity, And Thou dost set me in Thy presence forever. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting. Amen, and Amen. 
	There is that recognition by the Psalmist that the Lord has much more in plan and purpose than just what we encounter on this earth. There is an eternal preparation at work into which we will know the glory of the presence of God. Jehovah has deigned us to have an everlasting relationship with Him and with those who belong to Him. 
Therefore, the Psalmist, as do we, rejoices in the manifested glory of God so lavished upon such as ourselves. Our beings are filled with the absolute wonder and amazement at the awesome manner in which God so chooses to make Himself our place of safety and security and joy and peace and relatedness forever and forever. Consequently God is worthy of all the praise and adoration that humanity can offer with the desire that God be blessed, today and always!
	The Psalmist was not finished however in the declaration that God is to be blessed. Consider Ps 66:19+20, as we have the heart of the matter of our walk on this earth set before those who have the eyes and the hearts to try to understand what God is doing. It is seen even this very day in the course of our sojourn as the living witness of His Hand of love in operation.
	Ps 66:19+20, But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His lovingkindness from me. 
	This is evident in the manner in which God hears us when we call out to Him. It matters not whether it is a cry for deliverance, or a song of praise and worship, God hears and He responds. It is not just a voice carried into the sky by the wind. When we call out to Him, He hears and He showers us with His loving-kindness in tremendous abundance. 
	Many times, He may not answer in the manner in which we want Him too, in the way in which we think He should respond. He always deals with our petitions and our pleadings and our anguished cries with exactly what He knows is necessary to meet the true issue and need of the moment. That is something for which He is to be eternally blessed. 
	There are so many of our requests and our cries that, when we truly take the opportunity to review the work of the Lord in retrospect, we are so very grateful that He responded in the manner in which His Omniscience ruled the day. This is rather than our meager and selfish demands and tantrums of spoiled indignation. God always shows forth His perfect heart of love to those unto whom He manifests His awesome grace and mercy and loving-kindness. For that, in the midst of every stormy dilemma and circumstance of trial and tribulation, He is to be blessed now and evermore.
	The Psalmist further highlighted the reality that God works on our behalf as we are built together into the vibrant witness of the fact that God is the Savior and Lord of those who call upon Him. This is highlighted in Ps 68:19.
	Ps 68:19, Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. Selah. 
	It is Jehovah Who carries our burdens. Jesus took all the weight of our sin to the cross and left it on the death side of His crucifixion. He did the work of our eternal salvation as we believe upon Him. 
He also deals with our daily burdens as He is with us through it all. He works to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, but in a manner which always shows how much He loves us and how He will see us through all the death to self. This is that the glory of Christ may more fully and vibrantly shine forth from these earthen vessels whom He inhabits. This is with all His grace and mercy and loving-kindness and gentleness and long-suffering and comfort, as just some of the very precise and precious ways in which He daily bears our burdens. For this wondrous and amazing work of our salvation today and always, He is to be magnificently blessed by the full chorus of those who know Him and appreciate all that He does, day in and day out.
	Next please consider Ps 72:18+19. Herein, the Psalmist declared very precisely the full measure of what is before us as the redeemed of the Lord.
	Ps 72:18+19, Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders. And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen. 
	The whole earth is, and continues and will always proclaim the glory and the majesty and the splendor and the blessing of the Lord. He is seen throughout the wonders of His creation! It is in the magnificence of the panoramic skies, valleys, seas, forests, mountains, etc. All His artistic brushes and fingers are seen upon the whole universe as it spreads forth its tapestry of magnificence before us!
As well, the first breaths of a new born child, delightfully and magnificently demonstrate the intricacy of the miracle of life. All shouts forth the honor and the adoration of God.
	He works wonders, mighty and glorious wonders, in the depths of the oceans, to the peaks of the highest mountains! He is to be praised! 
As well, He works in the hearts and the minds of mankind, whom He created from the dust of the earth. Our eyes can see God in action when we are so attuned to the truth that is displayed in the majesty of His so great love to you and to me! For that, He is to be blessed by the lips and the hearts of humanity, as the heavens and the earth and the stars and the universe so sing forth His praise and adoration.
	Now please turn to the book of Daniel. We will read several of the accounts in which the glory of the work of God in the hearts of mankind is detailed for all who have the mind and the spirit to see the majesty of God in operation.
	We will begin with Dan 2:20-22, where we find Daniel dealing with King Nebuchadnezzar in the matter of the interpretation of the king’s dream. Nothing was said about the dream by Nebuchadnezzar. He wanted to know what it meant without any interference or guessing by the wise men whom he had gathered about himself. If they did not come up with the answer, they would all be destroyed and new men would be chosen as counsel to the king.
	Daniel and his compatriots spent the necessary time in prayer, laying before The Lord the whole, seemingly impossible situation. As the time was drawing close, Daniel was given both the content and the interpretation of the king’s dream, and thus he offered the Lord the blessing that was due His name.
	Dan 2:20-22, Daniel answered and said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. "And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, And knowledge to men of understanding. "It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.
	Daniel knew that God, Alone, was able to open the entirety of the mind of the king and his dream. Daniel did not shy away from making sure that everyone knew that it was all the work of God, the wisdom of God, the understanding of God, and the power of God that was on display in this seemingly impossible task and trial. As Daniel blessed the Lord, the king and all those who were party to this episode were introduced to the fact that the God of Israel was all-knowing! Jehovah was declared as the One unto whom all, even the king, must bow in adoration and honor!
	We continue with Dan 3:28, as King Nebuchadnezzar was once again in the situation of realizing that the God of Israel was at work in the manner of the safekeeping of His people. This was after the three Israelites refused to bow down to anyone or anything except Jehovah. They were thrown into the fiery burning furnace, which was so hot that the heat killed the men who threw these Hebrews into the inferno. Yet they were spared, by the grace and the mercy of God.
	Dan 3:28, Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king's command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God. 
	The king comprehended that these young men were divinely protected by the God of Israel, and accordingly this God was to be blessed. There was no true understanding that only One Living Lord God Almighty was to be so honored. It was just that Nebuchadnezzar was not willing to dishonor a deity who would so rescue His people with such miraculous means. Therefore, the God of Israel was to receive blessing for the display of His power, just as would any other god who might thus show forth the splendor of his being.
	 Nebuchadnezzar was finally brought to the point at which, he, the most powerful of kings, the most wealthy and honored of humanity, was nothing in the grand scope and sequence of what God, Alone was doing. Please open to Dan 4:34-37 as we will read together the after affects of how Nebuchadnezzar was ultimately humbled and brought to the place at which he commanded all the nations under his control to bring blessing and honor to Jehovah.
	Dan 4:34-37, "But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?' "At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride." 
	We now move forward into the New Testament with the praise so voiced by Zacharias at the birth of his son, soon to be called John the Baptizer. Please open to Luke 1:67-69, as the voice of this proud father was once again heard in the blessing of Jehovah for all that He hasddone and will accomplish.
	Luke 1:67-69, And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant —  
This blessing of God is carried throughout the books of the New Testament. It is always with that rejoicing in the manner of the work and the love and the grace and the mercy of God upon His people. Consider the blessing of God that is voiced in 2 Cor 1:3+4, as the Apostle Paul shows us that we are comforted in all our afflictions by God in order that we can bring the comfort of The Lord to others in their times of distress and hardship. For that God is to be magnificently and joyously blessed now and evermore.
2 Cor 1:3+4, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 
This blessing of God is again carried forward by the Apostle in Eph 1:3+4, wherein we are told that because God has blessed us with everything that could ever be needed or desired in the giving of His Only Begotten Son, we are to offer up our lives as a living blessing unto Him. He is to be blessed by the course of our walk on this earth under the Sovereignty and the eternal dominion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 1:3+4, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.
And, we end with the encouragement unto the blessing of The Lord by the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-5. Everything of the plan and the purpose of God comes into fruition in the course of how He is working and keeping those who belong to Him. 
1 Peter 1:3-5, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 
Just as Nebuchadnezzar was witness to the protective hand of God in operation, and was eventually brought to the place of offering God the blessing himself, so are others to see how wonderfully God works in our lives. All are to bring forth that which will bless Him, now and evermore. So be it.
Then David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me…. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Jer 33:9. 'And it shall be to Me a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good that I do for them, and they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.' Amen.